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UNITED STATES MILITARY RAILROADS. 



R TG F O R 'J: 



BVT. BRIG. GEN. D. C. M-^CALLUM. 

DIRECTOR AND GENERAL MANAGER, 

FROM 1S61 TO 1SG6. 



E 



S£f 4 1908 



K EFORT 



BREVET T3RIG. GEN. D. C. MTALLUM, 



OFFICE OF DIRKCTOR AND GENERAL MANAGER 

Military Eailroads United .States, 

Washington, J). C, Alaj/ 26 18(56. 
Sir : I liave tlie hcnior to submit the following report upon the military 
railroads of the United States under my charge during the war. 

On the 11th day of February, 1862, I received the following order : 

War Department, 
Washington} CUij, D. C, Febriiarij 11, 18G2. 
0)-dered, That D. C. McCallum be, and he is hereby, appointed military director and 
superintendent of railroads in the United States, vvitli authority to enter upon, take 
possession of, Jiold and use all railroads, engines, cars, locomotives, equipments, append- 
ages, and appurtenances, that may be required for the transport of troops, arms, ammu- 
nition, and military supplies of the United States, and to do and perform all acts and 
things that may be necessary and proper to be done for the safe and speedy transport 
aforesaid. 

By order of the President, commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy of the United 
States. 

EDWIN M. STANTON, 

Secretunj of War. 

Upon assuming the duties indicated by the above order I found only 
one railroad in possession of the Government, that from Washington to 
Alexandria, seven miles long, and in charge of Captain R. F. Morley, 
assistant quartermaster. 

Under an order from the War Department, dated January 10, 1862, 
the track had been relaid with new T-rails, the entire road-bed repaired, 
and a track laid across Long bridge, over the Potomac River. 

Previously all passengers and freight had been transferred across the 
bridge by harse-power. 

In Alexandria the tracks had been laid through the city to form a junc- 
tion with the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. 

The road was used regularly and continuously without interruption 



4 

trom this time forward until the clttse of the war, and on the 7th day of 
August, 1865, was surrendered to the Alexandria, Washington and 
GeorgetoAvn Railroad Company. 

During the period of its military occupation the value of construction 
and repairs made upon it not properly chargeable to the cost of operation 
amounted to $107,328.88. 

The transportation from February 9, 1^62, to August 7, 1865, three 
■years, five months and twenty-eight days, was as follows : 

Number of engines run over the road for other than local construc- 
tion purposes '. 8, 983 

Number of loaded cars - 30, 457 

Number of empty cars '-^tl, 699 

Total number of cars 51, 156 

In March, 1832, Major General McClellan instructed me to have a line 
examined for a railroad from Winchester, the terminus of the Harper's 
Ferry and Winchester Railroad, to Strasburg, a station of the Manasas 
Gap Railroad in the Shenandoah Valley, and to make an estimate of the 
cost. This was com})leted early in April, but the raih'oad was not built. 

March 14, 1862, General McClellan instructed me to have five locomo- 
tives and eighty cars loaded up<m vessels in the harbor of Baltimore and 
held subject to his orders, with a view to using them in his contemplated 
Peninsular campaign. They were pui'chased from Northern railroad 
companies, loaded as directed, and remained on the vessels until early in 
May, when they were sent to White House, Virginia, and placed upon 
the Richmond and York River Railroad. 

Another engine was added in June to the nwmber, and all employed in 
transporting supplies between White House and four miles from Rich- 
mond. Upon the withdrawal of the Army of the Potomac to Harrison's 
Landing, June2S, all the rolling stock was destroyed, or damaged as far 
as practicable, to prevent it from falling into the hands of the enemy. 

Near the close of March, 1862, the Orange and Alexandria Railroad 
was opened to Manassas Junction, 26 miles from Alexandria, and in April 
to Warrenton Junction, 39 miles. In^^ugust, after relaying six miles of 
track and bridging Rappahannock River, the road was opened to Cul- 
peper, 61 miles, which, at the time, was the main depot of supplies for 
the Army of Virginia. A few trains were run to the Rapidan River, 80 
miles. Upon the retreat of General Pope, in the last days of August, he 
road was entirely abandoned, with the loss of seven locomotives and i^K^ 



cars. In November it Avas reopened for a few days to Bealton, 4() miles, 
and to the town of Warrenton, to supply the Army of the Potomac on its 
march from Antietam to Fredericksburg. 

The Manassas Gap hiaih'oad was opened early in April, 18(52, to Stras- 
burg, sixty-one miles from Manassas and eighty-seven mih^s from Alex- 
andi-ia. It was operated only a very short time to Strasburg, but con- 
tinued in use to Front Ro^^al, fifty-one miles from Manassas, through May 
and part of June, when it w-as abandoned. In November, 1862, trains 
were rur\ over it to Front Royal for a few days with supf)lies for General 
McCIellan's army. 

The Alexandria, Loudon and Hampshire Railroad was opened, in the 
spring of 1862, to Vienna, fifteen miles from Alexandria, and used for 
transporting supplies to the fortifications south of Washington and the 
camps along its. line. During the first two Aveeks of September it was 
the principal line of supply for the Army of the Potomac when encamped 
near Washington, after the second battle of Bull Run, and pi'evious to 
the Antietam campaign. 

These four railroads conipiise all that were operated as military lines 
from Alexandria and Washington. They were subsequently used more 
or less at various times, as will be mentioned hereafter, and continued to 
play an important part in the operations of the Army of the Potomac. 

In April, 1862, the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad 
was opened from Aquia Creek to P^redericksburg, fifteen miles, and oper- 
ated to supply the fbices stationed at Fredericksburg. The road was 
abandoned September 7, with the loss of one engine, fifly-seven cars, and 
a small quantity of material. On the 18th of November, repairs w'ere 
again commenced, and the road was opened on the 28th to Falmouth, 
opposite Fredericksburg, and was used to su))ply the Army of the Potomac 
until June, 186:i. A very large amount of work was required, not only 
to the raih'oad, but to the w'harves at Aquia Creek, all of which had been 
burned when this line was abandoned by our forces. 

The limited accommodations for receiving and delivering freight and 
passengers at Aquia rendered an increase of wharf-room and tracks neces- 
sary, and a new wharf, afterward named *' Yuba Dam," was completed in 
February, one mile below the Aquia Creek wharf, and the necessary 
tracks laid fr<mi the main road to it. Vessels drawing ten and a half feet 
of water could land cit the new wharf at Ioav tide, Avhile there was only 
eight and a half feet at high water at the old one. 

This improvement proved to be a valuable acquisition to the means of 
supplying the army. The road continued to be used without interruption 
until June, 1883, wdien it was abandoned with a small loss of material, but 



6 

the bridges, buildings, and Avharves were soon afterward burned by the 
enemy. 

The eastern portion of the Norfolk and Petersburg Eailroad was taken 
in charge July 22, 18S2, and the gauge at once changed from five feet to 
four feet eight and one-half inches for forty-four miles. At Suffolk, 
twenty-three miles from Norfolk, this line crosses the Seaboard and Roan- 
oke Railroad, running from Portsmouth, opposite Norfolk A connect- 
ing track was laid between the two roads in August, 1862, and these 
lines were afterwards operated together. 

In May, 186:i, about fifteen miles ot track was taken up on the Norfolk 
and Peteivburg Railroad west of Suffolk, by order of Major General Dix, 
and about the same length on the Seaboard and Roanoke. The two roads 
Avere afterwards operated to Suffolk, until the close of the war, for local 
military purposes, and were not identified with any of the great military 
operations f»r campaigns. From July 22, 1862, to June 30, 1863, the 
transportation over them was as follows : 

Troops. 107,:}59 men ; quartermaster's stores, 23,757 tons; subsistence 
stores, 9,043 tons ; ordnance stores, 2,353 tons. Total stores, 35,153 tons. 

In April, 1863, the Orange and Alexandria Railroad was opened to 
Bealton, and used a few days to supply a force on the Rappahannock. 
The portion south of Bull Run was then abandoned, and about the 15th 
of June the whole road outside the defenses of Washington was evacuated. 
July 18, repairs were recommenced and continued till the road was 
opened to Culpeper. Not having been much damaged by the enemy^ 
the amount of work necessary to put it in running order was small. It 
was used until the first of October to supply the army of General Meade 
after its return to Virginia from the Gettysburg campaign. 

Early in October it was again abandoned south of Bull Riui, and was 
thoroughly destroyed by the enemy from Manassas Junction nearly to 
Brandy Station, about twenty-two miles. Repairs were commenced Oc- 
tober 23, and the damaged road opened October 30, to Warrenton .Junc- 
tion, eleven miles, and to Culpeper November 16, to which point it was 
operated during the winter, and until the final advance under Lieutenant 
General Grant of the Army of the Potomac, May 4, 1864, when it was 
abandoned beyond Burke's Stati<m, fourteen miles from Alexandria. Rap- 
pahannock River bridge, 625 feet long and 35 feet high, was rebuilt in 
nineteen working hours. The Army of the Potomac remained in winter 
quarters on the south side of the Rappahannock, and received all its sup- 
plies for men and animals duinng the winter and sjjring over this single- 
track road. 

The Manasses Gap Railroad was reopened to White Plains, 23 miles 



from Manassa?, in Aufjust, 1863, and used for a few days to deliver sup- 
plies for Genera] Meade's army on tlie march from Gettysburg to Cnl- 
peper. 

On the 2d day of July, 1863, military possession was taken of the 
Western Maryland Railroad from Baltimore to Westminster, in Maryland, 
36 miles, which, from its position, had become the line of supply for the 
army of General Meade at Gettysburg. Sufficient locomotives, cars, fuel, 
supplies, and the men to operate it were brought from the military rail- 
roads of Virginia, the equipment belonging to the road itself being wholly 
inadequate. The road was restored to the owners July 7, the army hav- 
ing moved to the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. 

July 9, 1863, full military possession was taken of the railroad from 
Hanover Junction to Gettysburg, 30 miles, and it was operated as a mili- 
tary line until August 1, to remove the wounded from the field of battle 
to distant hospitals. During military occupation about 15,580 wounded 
men were transported over it. The equipment and men for this work 
were likewise furnished from the military railroads of Virginia. 

During the rebel occupation of central Pennsylvania, in June, all the 
bridges were destroyed by them on the Northern Central Railroad be- 
tween Hanover Junction and Harrisburg, and several miles of track torn 
up on the Cumberland Valley and Franklin railroads, between Harris- 
burg and Hagerstowh, Maryland. The Virginia military railroad con- 
struction corps rebuilt the bridges of the Northern Central Railroad. 
The materials for the same Avere furnished from the Government yard at 
Alexandria, Virginia. The railroad company afterwards returned an 
equal quantity of material, the lumber amounting to 150,000 feet, board 
measure. The same construction corps also relaid a portion of the dam- 
aged track of the Cumberland Valley and Franklin railroads. 

As the war progressed the nature, capacity, and value of railroads were 
better understood on both sides, and more systematic and determined 
efforts were made by the enemy against the lines used for transporting 
supplies to our armies. The destruction of track and bridges was greater 
each subsequent time the roads passed within their military lines, and it 
became apparent that extraordinary preparations must be made to meet it. 
Early in 1863 a small construction corps was formed, consisting of about 
300 men, which was the beginning of an organization afterwards num- 
bering in the East and West nearly 10,000. The design of the corps was 
to combine a body of skilled workmen in each department of railroad con- 
struction and repairs, under competent engineers, supplied with abundant 
materials, tools, mechanical appliances, and transportation. They were 
formed into divisions, gangs, and squads, in charge, respectively, of su- 



pervisors, foremen, and sub-foremen, furnished with tents and field equip- 
ment. Storehouses were established at principal points, with an ample 
stock of tools and materials. 

With the opening of the campaign in Virginia in May, 1864, under 
Lieutenant General Grant, the Alexandria railroads ceased to bear anj 
important part. The Orange and Alexandria line was opened to Rappa- 
hannock River, 50 miles, between September 28 and October 2, 1864, but 
at once abandoned back to Manassas. It was operated to that station 
until November 10, when it was abandoned back to Fairfax, 16 miles fi'om 
Alexandria. It was operated for that distance until the close of the war, 
and June 27^ 1865, was surrendered to the Board of Public Works ot 
Virginia. 

The Manassas Gap Railroad was opened from Manassas to Piedmont, 
34 miles, between October 3 and 11, and operated until Octobei- 27, 1864. 
Between that date and November 10 the rails were taken up between the 
above-named stations and carried to Alexandria. 

On the 9th of May, 1864, repairs wei-e again commenced on the rail- 
road at Aquia Creek, and it was opened to Falmoutl), 14 miles. May 17. 
Potomac Creek bridge, 7 miles from Aquia, 414 feet long and 82 feet high, 
was built, ready for trains to pass, in 40 working hours. The road Avas 
operated until May 22, principally for removing the wounded of the bat- 
tles at Spottsylvania Coun-House. On that day it was abandoned, and 
not afterward used as a military line. 

The Richmond and York River Railroad was opened about the first of 
June from White House to Dispatch, 14 miles, and operated until June 
10, when it was finally abandoned, the track taken up by order of Lieu- 
tenant General Grant and the materials removed to Alexandria. 

Rolling-stock for the Aquia Creek and York River railroads was sent 
from Alexandria, on barges prepared with tracks for the pui-pose, and 
taken away in the same manner, without loss or injury, when the roads 
were abandoned. 

Near the close of June, 1864, the City Point and Petersburg Railroad 
was occupied to Pitkin Station, 8 miles from City Point. Duiing the fall 
and winter of 1864-'5, 18 miles of new railroad were built, passing around 
to the south and southwest of the city of Petersburg, by Avhich the armies 
of General Grant were principally supplied. 

The Richmond and Petersburg Railroad was opened April 4, 185.5. from 
Petersburg to the south bank of James River, opposite Richmond, 21 
miles, and was operated by this department until July 3, when it was 
turned over to the Virginia Board of Public Works 

The Petersburg and Lynchburg Railroad was repaired between April 



9 



4 and 11, to Bnrkesville, 62 miles from City Point, and used for a short 
time to supply the armies of General Meade and the paroled soldiers of 
General Lee's army. The gauge originally was five (5) feet, but not hav- 
ing proper rolling-stock at hand, it was changed to four feet eight and 
one-half inches. It was operated as a military road until July 24, when 
it was turned over to the Board of Public Works. 

Shortly after the surrender of General Johnston'.- army the Kichmond 
and Danville Railroiid was opened to Danville, 140 miles, and operated 
for military purposes until July 4, 18fi5, when it was also surrendered to 
the Hoard of Public Works. 

The Winchester and Potomac Railroad was repaired from Harj)ei's 
Ferry to Halltown, 6 miles, between August 14 and 19, 1<S64, to Steven- 
son, 28 miles, between November 2 and 24. and was used to supply the 
army of General Sheridan, operating in the Valley of Virginia. The iron 
used in the reconstruction of this line was jirincipally that taken from the 
Manassas Gap Railroad. The bridges were all rebuilt. The road re- 
mained in charge of this department until Januai-y '^0. 18oi), when it was 
restored to the railroad company. 

The railroads in Virginia, Maryland, and Penns3-lvania, used at any 
time during the war as military lines, the terminal stations on each, while 
so used, and nuuiber of miles operated, were as follows : 





Terminal stations. 


U 


>'anies ol lines. 


From — 


To— 


a — 
3-0 


Alex-imliia and Wasliingtou 

Alexandria, Loudon and Hampshire _. 


Washington 

Vienna _ _ _ 


7 


Alexandria 

Alexandria 

Warrenton .Junction. 
Manassas 


Mitchell's 

Warrenton 

Strasburg 

Fredericksburg., 

Fair Oaks 

Petersburg 

Coal 3Hnes 

Danville 

Bnrkesville 

Humphrey, itc.__ 

Blackvvater 

t^uflblk 

Stevenson 

Westmin.>;ter 

Gettysburg 


68 


Warrenton Branch 

Manassas Gap 



no 




1. 

20 

92 


ti uiac. 

llichmond and York Kiver 

Eichmond and Petersburg 


White House 

Manche.ster 

Clover Hill 


Clover Hill Bramh 


is^ 






140 


SovthSide _ ._ _ _ 


City Point 


62 


Army Tiine und l^iii'iflifts 


Pitkin, &c 

Norfolk 


IS 


Norfolk and Petersl'urg 


^I 


Seaboard and Roanoke 


Portsmouth 

Harper's Ferry_ 


17 




o« 




."^6 


Hanover Branch and Gettysburg 


Hanover Junction ___ 


3(1 
611 











10 

The following tabular statements exliibit- — 

1st. The number of persons employed, the greatest number employed 
in any one month of each year, the average monthly number for the year, 
and amount paid for their services. 

2d. The number of locomotive engines, how procured, number added 
each year, and final disposition made of thenj. 

3d The number of cars, &c. 

4th. The length of bridges and tracks, built or rebuilt. 

1. Number of j)ersons employed, and amount paid for services. 





end in o — 






Persons employed monthlj'. 


Amount paid for 
services. 


Year 


Greatest num- 
ber in one 
month. 


Average t um- 
ber in one 
month. 


.Tune 30, 18G2 
.Ii3ue 30, 18()3 










1, 730 

2, 721 

3, IGO 

4, 542 
1,300 


750 
1.974 

2,378 

3,(100 

417 


f345, 743 50 
777, 628 31 










.Tune 30, 18()4 . 










1, 277, 908 34 

2, 290, 145 73 
102, 475 07 


.Tune 30, 1865 _ 
Nine mouths e 


a(] 


ng Ma 


•ch 31 


18(50 


Total __. 


- 








4, 542 


1,90G 


4, 859, 900 95 



2. Locomotive enrjines provided, and final disposition made of them. 



Locomotives procured. 



jocomotives disposed of. 





1 


1 


1 


1 


.S.ti 

? 

ll 




Sold. 




Eeturned 
to former 
owners. 




Year. 


1 


To Southern rail- 
roads, under Ex. 
orders of Aug. 8 
and October 14. 

1 


Total. 


1802 


48 
18 


1 


5 


54 


- 


1 




2 


1803 


3 

9 

51 

4 








3 


1864 


- - 




1 






9 


1865 






3 


54 


1866 






4 












Total 


66 


1 


5 


72 


^ 


m 


1 




3 


72 











11 



3. Cars provided, and final disposition made of them. 





Cars procured. 






Cars disposed of. 






Year. 




_4J 

"B 


1 

o 


3 


il 
It 

11 


1 


Sold. 

To Southern rail- 
I'oads, under Ex. 
orders of A.uf?ust 
8 and October 14. 


Returned 
to former 
owners. 


Total. 


1862._ 
1863__ 
1864__ 
1865_. 
1866. _ 


503 

704 

68 

415 


'1(7' 


13 


516 

704 

08 

415 


458 
15 
57 
■20 








458 


10 
1-26 

1158 
38 







25 
183 


38 


13 


1,029 

38 



Total- 1,690 30 



13 



1,733 550 1,132 



38 



1,733 



In addition to the rolling-stock belondng to tlie department, in cases 
of emergency, tbe railroads north of Washington were freely drawn 
npon for a supply, particularly in the early part of the war. 

4. The length of bridges and track built or rebuilt. 

The total length of bridges built and rebuilt upon the Virginia rail- 
roads, including those rebuilt in 1863 in Maryland and Pennsylvania, was 
as foll(>\vs : 

Trestle or temporary bindges, 33.336 lineal feet ; truss or permanent 
bridges, 1,59-'. lineal feet. Total, 34,931 linnal feet, or 6 miles and 3,'25l 
feet. 

The total length of track laid upon the same railroads was 177 miles 
and 2,931 feet. During the war. and after its close, 128 miles and 5,163 
feet were taken up 

The following is a list of the principal (.fficers of military railroads of 
Virginia during the war. 

1862. 

J. H. Devereux Superintendent of railroads running from Alexandria. 

E. L. Wentz Engineer of repairs of railroads running from .\lexandria. 

J. J. Moore Engineer of repairs of railroads running from Alexandria. 

A. Anderson Engineer of repairs of railroads running from Alexandria. 

W.W.Wright Engineer and superintendent of Aquia Creek Railroad. 

E. L. Wentz Engineer and superintendent of Richmond and York River 

Railroad. 
E. L. AVentz Engineer and superintendent of Norfolk railroads. 



12 • 

1863. 

J. H. Devereux Superinlendent of Alexandria railroads. 

J. J. Moore Engineer of repairs of Alexandria railroads. 

\Y. W. Wright Engineer and superintendent of Aquia Creek Kailroad. 

E. L. Wentz Engineer and snperintendent of Norfolk railroads. 

A. Anderson Cliief engineer military railroads of Virginia. 

J. B. Clough Construction engineer military railroads of Virginia. 

186-1. 

E. L. Wentz Cliief engineer and general superintendent of military rail- 

loads of Vii-ginia to November 1. 

J. J. Moore Chief engineer and general superintendent of military rail- 
roads of Virginia after November 1. 

M. J. McCrickett Superintendent of Alexandria railroads to October 10. 

P. McCallum Superintendent of Alexandria railroads after October 10. 

P. McCallum Superintendent of Norfolk railroads to October 10. 

H. F. Woodward Superintendent of Norfolk railroads after October 10. 

G. M. Huntingdon Superintendent of City Point Railroad. 

C. L. McAlpine Engineer of repairs of City Point Railroad. 

J. G. Beggs Superintendent Harper's Ferry Railroad. (Wincliester and Po- 
tomac.) 

1865. 
J.J.Moore Chief engineer and general snperintendent of nnlitary rail- 
roads of Virginia. 

P. McCallum Superintendent of Alexandria railroads to March lo. 

W. H. McCaft'erty Superintendent of Alexandria railroads after March Id. 

G. M. Huntingdon Superintendent of City Point Railroad. 

C. L. McAlpine Engineer of City Point Railroad to May 1. 

T. D. Hays Engineer of City Point Railroad after 3Iay 1. 

H. F. Woodward Snperintendent of Norfolk railroads to :Marcli 1. 

P. B. Tompkins Superintendent of Norfolk lailroads after IMarch 1. 

0. H. Dorrance Superintendent of Harper's Ferry railroad to April 20. 

D. T. Shaw Superintendent of Harper's Ferry railroad after April 20. 

O. H. Dorrance Superintendent of Richmond and Danville Railroad. 

MILITARY RAILROADS OF THE SOUTH WKST. 

Ill obedience to War Department Special Order No 562, dated Decem- 
ber 19, 1863, paragrapli 33, 1 proceeded to Teniies.see and examined the 
condition of llie railroad lines operated to supply tbe armies then en- 
camped in the vicinity of Cliattanooga. and submitted the following re- 
port : 

CH.\'rr.\xooG.\, Jaunanj I'.J, 186U. 

Sir : I am instructed by Major General Halleck to report the present condition of 
affairs connected with the United States military railroad service in the Department of 
the Cumberland, and, in doing so, I beg to state that while the duty is an unpleasant 
one, the interest of the service and my personal reputation demand a plain statement 
of the case. 



13 

By Older of General M. C. Meigs, Quarteniiastor General, a large number of men 
were engaged and forwarded, with tools and equipments to Nashville, Tennessee, 
there to report for duty. Having myself been ordered to report to General Meigs at 
Chattanooga, I called upon Mr. J. B. Anderson, general manager, ifec, Nasliville, Ten- 
nessee, and informed him that I had been ordered to aid him in repairing the railroad 
between Bridgeport and Chattanooga. 

This I at once proceeded to do. When this duty was completed, presuming tliat the 
whole force would then be put upon the whole line between Nashville and Chatta- 
nooga, it was tendered to Mr. Anderson, but for some reasons to me unknown, lie de- 
clined to adopt this course; it was therefore ordered by Major General Thomas, with 
the concurrence of Mr. Anderson, that the force be taken from the Nashville and 
Chattanooga line and put upon the repairs of the road between Chattanooga and 
Kuoxville, Mr. Anderson taking the whole responsibility of repairs of the road in use, 
and to make such requisitions for men and tools as might be in my power to meet. 

The road between Nashville and Chattanooga is still in bad condition, and, in my 
opinion, no energetic means have been taken to put it in repair ; the iron and cross- 
ties on the McMinnville and Trenton branches are to be taken up and used in repair- 
ing the main lines, but as yet, as far as my knowledge extends, no movements of that 
sort have been made ; and although the trains are run only at the rate of eight miles 
per hour between Nashville and Chattanooga, accidents are frequent. In my opinion 
it will be true economy to relay tlie whole line with new rails as soon as the latter can 
be procured. 

I would recommend that the rolling-mill partially constructed by the rebels at this 
place be completed as soon as possible, for the purpose of re-rolling the worn-out rails, 
coal being contigiU)iis and abundant. This would not only be economy, but would 
enable the Government to have rails on hand for any probable contingency. The cost 
of re-rolling the old iron would not be greater per ton than the expense of transporting 
new rails from the seaboard to this point, thus saving the original cost of the iron, 
besides the great advantage of having the rails on hand when and where required. It 
is reasonable to assume that the railroads south of this are badly worn out, which fur- 
nishes an additional argument in favor of the rolling-mill. I am informed that this 
point will be used as an important base of supplies; this will cause a large amount of 
rolling stock to center here, requiring the necessary shops and machinery for repairs. 
I cannot discover that measures have been taken to meet this want. The shops at 
Nashville are very deficient, and immediate means should be taken to increase the 
facilities there. 

When the Northwestern Eailroad and the line from Chattanooga to Knoxville are 
completed, the following lines will be in operation : 

JlfiVes. 

Northwestern Railroad, from Nashville to the Tennessee River 72 

Nashville to Chattanooga 151 

Nashville to Stevenson via Decatur 185 

Chattanooga to Knoxville 111 

Whole distance 519 



To work these lines I am informed there are on hand, or will be soon, seventy (70) 
locomotives and six hundred (600) freight cars. This supply is entirely inadequate. I 
may say here that on certain emergencies we have had in use between Washington and 



14 . 

Culpeper sixty (60j locomotives and eight hundred (800) cars — a distance of seventy 
miles. It is true this was an extreme case, but one not iinlikely to occur on all mili- 
tary railroads. The railroad from Aquia Creek to Falmouth, di-stance fourteen (14) 
miles, required at times fourteen locomotives and one hundred and sixty-five (165) 
cars. 

The ordinary .supply of rolling stock in use upon the various railroads in this coun- 
try will average one (1) locomotive and twelve (12) freight cars to every two miles in 
length of road in use, and on many lines the supply is even greater. 

Thus, according to the above statement, the seventy locomotives will be barely suflB- 
cient to stock one hundred and forty (14:0) miles, and six hundred cars sufficient only 
to stock one hundred (100) miles of railroad ; add to this the liability of destruction by 
raids, and the necessity of being prepared, if possible, for sudden and rapid movements, 
it is apparent that with the present equipment no advance of the army can be made, if 
I am correct in assuming that it must depend upon railroads for supplies. There 
should be on hand in this department not less than two hundred (200) locomotives and 
three thousand (3,000) cars, which should be added to as the army advances southward 
from Chattanooga. 

I regret to be compelled to ."eport the railroad organization of this department as 
decidedly defective, and, as far as I have been able to discover, there is a lack of well- 
directed energy and seeming want of ability to comprehend the magnitude of the un- 
dertaking. The experiment of supplying an army over a long line of r,ailioad through 
an enemy's country is yet to be tested. 

The most perfect organization and the best practical talent in the country will be 
indispensable to success. A construction corps of at least one thousand (1,000) men, 
under a competent head, with a full supply of tools and materials, will be as essential 
as the permanency of the roadway. The line should be worked in divisions of proper 
length, each division put in charge of an experienced officer directly responsible to the 
head of the operating department, with such a system of reports by telegraph and 
otherwise as will at once detect delinquencies and as will insure perfect discipline and 
full co-operation thi'oughout. 

In conclusion, permit me to say that I have thus briefly given my views in the case, 
which nothing but a plain sense of duty to the War Department and the service could 
have induced me to do. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, j-our obedient servant, 

D. C. McCALLUM, Colonel, A. D. C. 

Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretari/ of War. 

The following order was received on the 4tli of February, 1864: 
[General Orders No. 3.] 

He.\i)Quarters Militahy Division of the Mississippi, 

Nashville, Tennessee, February U, 186U- 
By authority of the Secretary of War, Colonel D. C. McCallum, aide-de-camp. United 
States Army, is hereby appointed general manager of all railways in possession of the 
Gjvernment, or that may from time to time be taken possession of by military authority 
in the departments of the Cumberland, the Ohio, the Tennessee, and of Arkansas, with 
all the powers and authorities conferred and duties imposed upon and invested in John 
B. Anderson, as general manager of said railways, by special order of the Secretary of 



15 

War, of date War Deiiartnient, Louisville, Kentucky, October 19, 18(;:j (as modified bj' 
paragraph four, General Orders No. 13, from these headquarters), and will at once enter 
upon the discharge of the duties of general manager of railways, as aforesaid. 

John B. Anderson is hereby relieved from duty as general manager of said railways, 
and from all connection with the same, and will turn over to said Colonel McCallum all 
property, moneys, contracts, and papers, of every kind and description, belonging to 
Government, or in anywise appertaining to or concerning said railways. 

By order of Major General U. S. Gr.\nt : 

T. S. BOWERS, A!^sist(i)if Adjutant Generul. 

Upon assuming the duties thus imposed, I found most inadequate 
means to accomphsh the purposes for whicli the raih-oads had been 
opened. The main army was at Chattanooga and its vicinity, and all 
its supplies for men and food for its animals were received from Nash- 
ville, one hundred and fifty-one miles di.stant, over the Nashville and 
Chattanooga Railroad. 

This road was necessfarily the main line of supply during the subse- 
quent campaigns from Chattanooga toward Atlanta, and from Knoxville 
toward southwestern Virginia, and at this time was in the worst condi- 
tion. The track was laid originally on an unballasted mud road-bed in 
a very imperfect manner, with a light U-rail on wooden stringers, which 
were badly decayed and caused almost daily accidents by spreading 
apart and letting the engines and cars drop between them. The total 
length of the roads in use was as follows : 

Miles. 
Nashville to Chattanooga 1.51 

Nashville (south) to Darks' mill 39 

Stevenson to Huntsville GO 

Chattanooga to Charleston 42 

Total 292 

Upon examination it was found there was on the above roads the fol- 
lowing rolling stock : 

47 United States military railroad locomotives that could be made available. 
3 locomotives borrowed from Louisville and Nashville Railroad. 

Total, 50 locomotives, of which eleven (11) were disabled and in the shop for repairs, 
leaving fit for service thirty-nine (39). 

437 United States military railroad freight cars. 
About 100 cars borrowed from Louisville and Nashville Railroad. 

Total, 537 cars, of which four hundred (400) were in running order, the remainder 
being disabled. 



16* 

My attention was first directed to the most eiBcient organization of the 
men employed. Two distinct departments were projected — the "trans- 
portation department/' enihracii}g the operation and maintenance of all 
the lines in use, and the " construction corps," for the reconstruction of 
the railroads which might fall into our hands aS the army advanced. 

The following orders and instructions were issued to the principal offi- 
cers in chargeof these respective organizations : 

[General Orders No. 1.] 
Office of Genkral Manager Military Railroads U. S., 

Nashrille, February 10, 186U. 
A. Audersoii is hereby appointed general superintendent of transportation and 
maintenance of roads in use, and W. W. Wright chief engineer of coDstruction in the 
niilitarj' division of the Mississippi They will be respected accordingly. 

D. C. McCALLUM, 
Colonel, U. S. Ann;/, General Manager Railroads U. S. 
Approved : 

U. S. GRANT, Major General. 

Office of General Manager Military Railroads U. S., 

Nashctlle, Tennessee, Fvbruarij 11, 186U- 

Sir : Yon are hereby appointed general superintendent of transportation on United 
States military railroads in the military division of the Mississippi. 

Your duties will be confineil to the management of transportation on all railroads in 
use in this military division, together with all necessary repairs of the same. 

You will have, with the approval of general manager, full authority to engage the 
services of all persons for whose acts you are lield responsible, and will have full power 
to dismiss any subordinate when, in your judgment, the interest of the service will be 
jiromoted thereby. 

You will also, with the aitproval of the general manager, have authority to establish 
rates of ccmipensation of all persons serving under you. , 

You will, at an early day, present to the general manager, for his approval, a plan of 
the oiganization of your department. 

You will have authority to make requisitions for supplies upon the assistant quarter- 
master detailed to service on military railroads in tlie military division of the Missis- 
sippi. 

You have powei- to make re(iuisitions for men and materials, or both, upon the chief 
engineer in charge of construction in this division, wlien, iu your oi)inion, the emer- 
gency calls for such assistance. 

As the duties of the general manager will occasionally cause his absence from this 
militarj' division, you will at such times, and in order to insure prompt action, obey 
any order emanating from the General-in-cliief of this military division, or Generals in 
command of the departments of the Cumberland, the Ohio, and the Tennessee, in all 
matters appertaining to the branch of duties in your charge. 
Yerv respectfully, vour obedient servant, 

P. C. McCALLUM, 
Colow'l, U. S. Army, Militar// Directcr and General Manager Railroads U. S. 

A. Anderson, Esq. 



17 

Office of General Manager Military Railroads U. S., 

Nashville, Tennessee, February 11, 186k- 

Sir : You iire hereby appointed chief engineer of United States military railroads in 
the military division of the Mississippi. 

Your duties will be confined more especially to the reconstruction and opening of 
new lines of railroad. For this purpose you will have the entire charge of the con- 
struction corps. You will have authority, with the approval of the general manager, 
to engage all persons for whose acts you are held responsible, and will have full power 
to dismiss any person employed under you when, in your judgment, the interest of the 
service will be promoted thereby. 

Tou will, with the approval of the general manager, have power to establish rates 
of compensation of your subordinates, and will, at an early day, report to the general 
manager for his approval a plan of organization of all the forces in your charge. 

You will have authority to make requisitions for supplies, tools, Ac, upon the assist- 
ant quartermaster detailed to special duty in the military division of the Mississippi, 
and located at Nashville. 

It will also be your duty to honor requisitions made upon you for men and materials 
by the general superintendent of United States military railroads in the military divi- 
sion of the Mississippi for the purpose of repairs of lines in use, but you will in no case 
withdraw your forces for said repairs without the consent and approval of the General 
in command of the department where your forces may be located, or the General-in- 
chief of this military division. 

In order to ensure prompt action, you will, in the absence of the general manager, 
obey the orders of the General-in-chief of this military division, or the Generals in com- 
mand of the departments of the Cumberland, the Ohio, and the Tennessee. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

D. C. McGALLUM, 
Colonel, U. S. Army, Military Director and General Manager Railroads U. <?- 

W. W. Wright, Esq. 

The transportation department embraced the following divisions or 
sub-departments : 

1. Conducting transportation or managing the movements of trains. 

2. Maintenance of road and structures, or keeping the roadway^ 
bridges, buildings, and other structures in repair, building new struct- 
ures, rebuilding old ones when and where necessary. 

3. Maintenance of rolling stock, keeping in order the locomotives and 
cars, and managing the shops where sucb work was done. 

For conducting transportation, each principal line was operated bj a 
superintendent of transportation, who was held responsible for the move- 
ment of all trains and engines over it. 

Subordinate to the superintendent were one or more masters of trans- 
portation, according to distance operated, who were constantly moving 
over the road to see that the employes attended properly to their duties 
while out with their trains. At principal stations, where locomotives 
U. S. M. R.— 2 



18 

were changed or kept in reserve, an engine dispatcher was stationed to 
see that the locomotives were in good order for service, that thej were 
properly repaired and cleaned when at the station ; to supervise and con- 
trol the engineers and firemen, and to assign the requisite crews to engines. 

Maintenance of road and structures for each line was in charge of a 
superintendent of repairs, with the necessary supervisors, road-masters, 
foremen, &c. 

Maintenance of rolling stock was in charge respectively of the master 
machinist, who managed repairs of locomotives, and the master of car 
repairs, under whose charge all repairs to cars were made. 

The above officers were independent of each other and reported di- 
rectly to the general superintendent. 

The maximum force employed at any one time in the transp)ortatioii 
department of the military division of the Mississippi was about twelve 
thousand men. 

Allusion has already been made, in reviewing the Virginia railroads, 
to the circumstances under which the first construction corps originated. 
In the present case it was found to require a much broader development 
than it had previously received at the east, in order to insure beyond 
contingency the prompt rebuilding in the shortest possible time of any 
length of road that might pass into our hands. 

The construction corps of the military division of the Mississippi was 
organized in six divisions under the general charge of the chief engineer, 
and at its maximum strength numbered nearly five thousand men. 

To give the corps entire mobility, enable it to move independently, and 
perform work at the same time at widely different points, each division 
was made a complete whole in itself, and equipped with tools, camp 
equipage, and field transportation, in order that the whole or any part of 
the same might be moved at once in any direction where ordered, and by 
any mode of conveyance — by rail, with teams and wagons, or on foot. 

The following is the organization of one division of the construction 
corps. United States military railroads, as it existed in the military divi- 
sion of the Mississippi. 

The number of divisions was increased or diminished to suit the re- 
quirements of military movements. 

Each division was under the command of a division engineer and was 
divided into subdivisions or sections. Each subdivision was under the 
immediate command of a supervisor. The two largest and most impor- 
tant subdivisions in a division were the track-layers and bridge-builders. 
A subdivision was composed of gangs, each under a foreman. Gangs 
were subdivided into squads, each under a sub-foreman. 



19 

A division completely organized was composed of the following-named 
officers and number of men : 

No. of men. 

Division engineer 1 

Assistant engineer 1 

Rodman 1 

Clerk 1 

Messengers 2 



6 



Subdivision No. 1. 

Supervisor of bridges and carpenter work 

Clerk and time-keeper 

Commissary 

Quartermaster 

Surgeon 

Hospital steward . 

Foremen (one for each 50 men) 6 

Sub-foremen (one for each 10 men) 30 

3Iechanics and laborers 300 

Blacksmith and helper 2 

Cooks 12 

Subdivision No. 2. 

Supervisor of track 

Clerk and time-keeper 

Commissary 

Quartermaster 

Surgeon 

Hospital steward 

Foremen (one for each 50 men) 6 

Sub-foremen (one for each 10 men) 30 

Mechanics and laborers 300 

Blacksmith and helper 2 

Cooks 12 

Subdivusioti No. S. 

Supervisor of water stations 1 

Foreman 1 

Mechanics and laborers 12 

Cook 1 

Subdivision No. U. 

Supervisor of masonry 1 

Foreman 1 

Masons and helpers 10 

Cook 1 



356 



15 



13 



20 

Subdivision No. 5. 

Ao. of men. 

Foreman of ox brigade 1 

Ox drivers 18 

Cook 1 

20 

Train crew. 

Conductors 2 

Brakemen 4 

Locomotive engineers 2 

Firemen 2 

Cook 1 

11 

Total 777 

The commissai'ies had charge of drawing, caring for, and issuing ra- 
tions. 

The quartermaster had charge of tools, camp equipage, &c. 

Each foreman was responsible for the tools and other Government 
property issued to his gang. 

Each supervisor reported the time made by the men in his subdivision, 
through his division engineer, to the chief time-keeper, who was stationed 
at the headquarters of the chief engineer. 

The surgeons were appointed by the chief engineer, and were paid out 
of a private fund voluntarily contributed by the men for hospital pur- 
poses. 

Sub-foremen were appointed by the foremen, subject to the approval of 
the division engineer. Foremen were appointed by the division engineer, 
subject to the approval of the chief engineer. 

Division and assistant engineers were appointed by the chief engineer, 
subject to the approval of the general manager. 

After completing the organization of the working forces my attention 
was next directed to providing an adequate supply of locomotives and 
cars, with the necessary shops, tools, and materials to keep them in 
working order. In my report of January 19, 1864, I had estimated the 
rolling stock necessary for the business anticipated on the lines that would 
probably be operated from Nashville at 200 locomotives and 3,000 cars, 
while only 47 available locomotives and 437 cars were on hand. From 
the imperative necessity of providing the additional equipment at the 
earliest possible time, the following order was given by the Hon. Secre- 
tary of War to the locomotive manufacturers of the country : 



21 

WAR DEPARTMENT, 

Washington City, March 23, 186U. 
Gentlemen: Colonel Daniel C. McCallum, general manager of Government railways 
in the Department of the Cumberland, of the Ohio, and of the Tennessee, has been au- 
thorized by this Department to procure locomotives without delay for the railways under 
his charge. 

In order to meet the wants of the military departments of the Government you will 
deliver to his order such engines as he may direct, whether building under orders for 
other parties, or otherwise the Government being accountable to you for the same. 
The urgent necessity of the Government for the immediate supply of our armies oper- 
ating in Tennessee renders the engines indispensable for the equipment of the lines of 
communication, and it is hoped that this necessity will be recognized by you as a mili- 
tary necessity, paramount to all other considerations. 
By order of the President : 

EDWIN M. STANTON, 

Secretary of War. 

It is proper and just to state that the requisitions of this order were 
met by all in a spirit of zealous patriotism. The manufacturers at once 
placed all their available force at work upon the engines and cars ordered, 
which were completed and delivered in an unprecedented short time. 

The following table shows the rate of delivery at Nashville of engines 
and cars from the manufacturers : 



1864. 



February- 

March 

April 



May 

June 

July 

August 

September. 



Received. 



motives. 



Cars. 



1864. 



158 [ October __. 
183 j November. 
334 I December. 



244 i Januarv-- 
132 i February, 

182 li March 



267 li April- 
231 '; May _ 



Total. 



Received. 



Loco- 
motives. 



Cars. 



195 
132 
101 



85 
85 
78 
100 
66 



Notwithstanding the large additions made to the rolling stock in Feb- 
Tuarj, March, and April, it was still inadequate to supply the wants of 
the service, and it was necessary to use extraordinary measures to in- 
crease it. The gauge of the Tennessee railroads being five feet, and only 
the roads in Kentucky having a corresponding gauge, they were the 



22 * 

only source from which rolling stock could be obtained, and their engines 
and cars were temporarily impressed into the Government service and 
sent south of Nashville. 

The following number of engines and cars were thus obtained, and 
used through May and during parts of April and June : 

Engines. Cars. 

Louisville and Nashville Eailroad 17 120 

Louisville and Lexington Railroad 2 15 

Kentucky Central Railroad 2 60 

Total 21 195 

The fifteen cars belonging to Louisville and Lexington Railroad, and 
the sixty cars of the Kentucky Central Kailroad, were subsequently pur- 
chased by the Government. 

To maintain the locomotives and cars in good working order extensive 
machine and car shops were built at Nashville and Chattanooga. These 
shops were supplied with machinery partly seized or purchased in the 
country, and partly obtained from northern manufacturers. 

The shops at Nashville particularly were on a large scale, as at times 
one hundred engines and more than one thousand cai-s were there at once, 
it being the main terminal station of five hundred miles of road running from 
it east, south, and west. Extensive storehouses were also built at Nash- 
ville and Chattanooga, and kept supplied with all necessary materials to 
rebuild or repair track, bridges, buildings, engines, or cars to any reason- 
able extent. 

The general intention was to make these two cities the great centers 
toward which all operations should converge ; where supplies of all kinds 
could be obtained in case the roads were cut in their rear ; where repairs 
of any kind or to any extent could be made, and in case communication 
was destroyed between them, operations could be conducted from either 
■with facility in any direction. 

The following tabular statement exhibits the development of these lines 
during the five months from February 4 to June 30 : 



23 



I. 



ll 

a 


•senw 


s'^^i i 


(M0O(M<X>t-t~t-(M 


1 


1 


Chattanooga- 
Shelby ville— - 
McMinnville __ 
Stevenson 


Mt. Pleasant 

Tennessee River 

Knoxville 

Bull's Gap 

Big Shanty 

Dalton 

Rome 

L. & N. R. R. 
Depot. 


1 


1 


Nashville— 

Wartrace 

TuUahoma __ 
Nashville.— 


Columbia 

Nashville- 

Chattanooga- 
Knoxville -.. 
Chattanooga- 
Cleveland 

Kingston 

River Land- 
ing. 




CO 

a 

s 

1-5 

c 

M 


•88IIM 


s 1 ll 1 


i*S il^^^ 


1 


1 


Chattanooga... 
Stevenson 


Tennessee River 
Knoxville 

Big Shanty 

Dalton 

Rome 

L. & N. R. R. 
Depot. 




1 


Nashville. 

Nashville 


"NashvillelL- 
Chattanooga. 

Chattanooga- 
Cleveland -.. 

Kingston 

River Land- 
ing. 




1 

a 


•sauw 


S i 15? s 


1 1^ i i i i i 


1 


1 


Illi 

o 1 la S 


1 ] ° 1 ' I 1 1 i 
1 jl 1 1 1 1 1 

j jo j 1 1 j j 




1 

2 


1 1 i?§ s 


1 1 cS 1 1 1 1 1 
j 1 be I 1 1 j 1 

1 :« 1 1 1 1 
1 1 "^ 1 1 1 1 1 

1 j5 1 1 1 1 1 






<» 
i 

Zi 


Nashville and Chattanooga.. 

Shelbyville Branch 

McMinnville and Manchester 
Nashville, Decatur and Ste- 
venson. 
Nashville, Decatur and Ste- 


venson. 

Mt. Pleasant Branch 

Nashville and North Western 
Chattanooga and Knoxville - 

Knoxville and Bristol 

Chattanooga and Atlanta — 

Cleveland and Dalton 

Rome Branch 

Louisville City 


3 



24 

Besides the lines mentioned above, the Memphis and Charleston Rail- 
road was opened from Mempliis to Grand Junction, fifty-two miles, and 
the Mobile and Ohio railroad had been used from Columbus to Union 
City, twenty-six miles. The operations in Western Tennessee and Ken- 
tucky and in North Mississippi were distinct and separate from those at 
Nashville, and although under the control of the general superintendent 
at the latter point, they required and received very little attention as com- 
pared with the lines leading to the front. 

The Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, 151 miles, was the great main 
line, over which passed all the supplies for the armies of the Cumberland, 
the Ohio, and the Tennessee, through the campaigns which terminated 
with the occupation of Atlanta. Over this single line of railroad the pro- 
visions, clothing, and camp equipage of the men, forage for animals, arms, 
ammunition, and ordnance stores, reinforcements, and all the varied mis- 
cellaneous supplies required for a great army engaged in an active cam- 
paign, were sent to the front, and by it Avere returned the sick, wounded, 
disabled and discharged soldiers, refugees and freedmen, captured pris- 
oners, and materials deemed advisable to send to the rear. 

Portions of the road had been in use for military purposes since April, 
1862, but I have not in my possession any data of the operations of this 
or any other military line of the Southwest prior to February, 1864. 

About 115 miles of track were relaid with new inm, cross-ties, and 
ballast, from February, 1864, to the close of the war. Sidings were put 
in at intervals, to be not more than eight miles apart, each capable of 
holding five to eight long freight trains, and telegraph stations were estab- 
lished at most of them. In all, nineteen miles of new sidings were added 
to this road and forty-five new^ water-tanks erected. 

During the spring and summer of 1864 a few" occasional guerilla raids 
were made upon it, but they caused little damage to property or detention 
to transportation. About September 1, 1864, the rebel General Wheeler 
destroyed seven miles of the road between Nashville and Murfreesboro'. 
In December General Hood destroyed seven and three-fourths miles of 
track and five hundred and thirty feet of bridges between the same sta- 
tions. In both cases the road was promptly repaired, and trains were 
running in a few days. 

The road was turned over to the company September 15, 1865. 

The next railroad in importance for military purposes was the Western 
and Atlantic, from Chattanooga to Atlanta, 136 miles. It was opened to 
Ringgold, Georgia, twenty-one miles from Chattanooga, in March, 1864. 
Early in May the work of reconstruction was commenced south from 
Ringgold, and kept pace with the movements of Sherman's army. The 



25 

line was opened through to Atlanta in August, 1864, immediately after 
the evacuation of the town by the rebel army. In the reconstruction of 
this road 22| miles of track and 4,081 lineal feet of bridges were rebuilt. 

The most important single structure was Chattahoochee bridge, 780 feet 
long and 92 feet high, which was completed by the construction corps in 
four and a half days. While occupied as a military road, this was more 
infested by guerillas than any other dui'ing the war. Every device pos- 
sible to apply was used to throw trains from the track, and though occa- 
sionally successful, the preparations to guard against such attempts were 
so complete that few of them caused loss of life or more than a few hours' 
detention. 

Early in October, 1864, General Hood passed around General Sher- 
man's army and fell upon the railroad at several points in its rear. He 
destroyed 35^ miles of track and 455 lineal feet of bridges ; but in thir- 
teen days after he left the line it was repaired, and trains were run over its 
entire length. Tsventy-five miles of the track and 230 feet of bridges in one 
stretch between Tunnel Hill and Resaca were reconstructed in seven and 
a half days. This was accomplished by working from each end of the 
break, and at the same time working both ways from Dalton, which was 
reached by trains with material by way of Cleveland after relaying 1^ 
miles of track. 

When General Sherman commenced his march to Savannah, in Novem- 
ber, the road between Atlanta and Dalton, 100 miles, was abandoned. 
The track from Atlanta to Etowah River, 46 miles, was torn up and de- 
stroyed, and from Resaca to Dalton, 16 miles, the rails were taken up and 
cain'ied to Chattanooga. 

By order of Major General Thomas the road from Dalton to Atlanta was 
reconstructed, and between May 10 and July 4, 1865, 66 miles of track 
were laid, 36 miles repaired, and 3,553 lineal feet of bridges rebuilt. 

On the 25th day of September, 1865, it was turned over to the State of 
Georgia, to whom it originally belonged. 

The East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad, from Chattanooga to Knox- 
ville, 112 miles, was opened through in May, 1864, upon completion of 
Tennessee River bridge at Loudon, It had been used for three months 
previous by transshipping stores and passengers across the river in flat- 
boats. It was operated with great regularity during the entire military 
occupation of that region, except in August and September, 1864, when 
General Wheeler tore up twenty-five miles of track. It was speedily 
repaired, and not molested afterward. 

The Dalton branch, from Cleveland to Dalton, 27 miles, was operated 



26 

in connection with the main line, and was of great service on several 
occasions. 

On the 28th daj of August, 1865, the road and branch was restored to 
the company. 

The East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad from Knoxville to Bristol 
was used and abandoned for short distances near Knoxville during 1864. 
The farthest point reached during the year was Bull's Gap, 56 miles from 
Knoxville. 

By order of Major General Thomas repairs were commenced near Knox- 
ville, March 4, 1865, and the road opened to Carter's Station, 110 miles, 
April 23. Between those dates 12 miles of track were rebuilt, 94 miles 
repaired, and 4,400 lineal feet of bridges constructed. 

It was turned over to the company August 28, 1865. 

Nashville, Decatur and Stevenson line, 200 miles. — This is formed of the 
Nashville and Decatur Railroad, 120 miles from Nashville, south, to 
Decatur, on Tennessee River, together with the eastern portion of the 
Memphis and Charleston Railroad from Decatur to 'Steveuson, 80 miles. 
Steveuson is at the junction of the latter railroad and the Nashville and 
Chattanooga, being 113 miles di^tant from Nashville. Although the dis- 
tance via Decatur is 87 miles greater than by the direct road, such was 
the pressure ft)r transportation it was necessary to send return trains by 
that route from the front until the capacity of the Nashville aud Chatta- 
nooga line was sufficiently increased to accommodate the business. In 
June, 1864, all through trains were transferred to the main line. 

The Nashville, Decatur and Stevenson road was used for local purposes 
during the summer of 1864. A bout the 1st of September General Wheeler 
tore up several miles of the track between Nashville and Columbia, and 
late in September General Forrest destroyed several bridges and tore up 
a portion of the track between Athens and Pul;iski. The whole length of 
track destroyed in the two raids was 29^ miles. That between Nashville 
and Columbia was at once repaired, but between Pulaski and Athens it 
was not rebuilt until February, 1865. During Hood's Nashville campaign, 
in November and December, 1864, all the bridges then standing between 
Nashville and Decatur were destroyed, with six miles of track. The 
work of reconstruction was commenced December 19, three days after 
the battle of Nashville, and completed to Pulaski February 10, 1865. In 
addition to relaying the track, 7,055 lineal feet of bridges were built, con- 
suming 1,045,675 feet timber, board measure. 

Near the close of February, and again in March, most of these bridges 
were swept away by extraordinary floods, and were rebuilt, some of them 



27 

twice and many of them three times, and they were finally replaced by 
permanent truss bridges. 

The road from Stevenson to Decatur was restored to the company 
September 12, and between Nashville and Decatur September, 15, 1865. 

Nashville and Northwestern, 78 miles. — At the beginning of the war this 
road had been completed to Kingston Springs, 25 miles from Nashville, 
and some work had been done upon it thence to Tennessee River. 

It remained in this condition until after tlie following order was issued: 

[Special Order.] 

War Department, 
Louisville, Kentucky, October 22, 1S63. 
Ordered: 1. That the construction of the Northwestern Raih'oad from Nashville to 
the Tennessee River, at Reynoldsburg, as a military railroad, for the transportation of 
troops, army supplies, and for other military purposes, be placed in charge of Andrew 
Johnson, Military Governor of Tennessee, with full power to procure material, to em- 
ploy a competent engineer, and other oflicers, agents, and workmen necessary to com- 
plete said line of railroad without delay. All olficers, agents, and workmen, and con- 
tracts for materials necessary to the construction of said road, shall be under his general 
direction and control, subject to the approval of the Quartermaster General. 

2. Officers of the quartermaster's department shall be designated by the Quartermaster 
General to draw rations and provide supplies for the forces engaged upon the work and 
the expenses incurred from time to time under this order, when properly certified by 
the engineer in charge of the work and by Andrew Johnson, Military Governor of 
Tennessee. 

3. Chief officers of the commissary department at Nashville will furnish such rations 
and supplies for the forces engaged in constructing the Northwestern Railroad as may 
be necessary upon requisition from the quartermaster referred to in this order. 

4. The general manager of the military railways will provide, upon the requisition 
of Andrew Johnson, Military Governor of Tennessee, such engines and cars (so far as it 
may be consistent vvitli the transportatii^n of army supplies) for construction purposes 
as may be necessary, and also to move fuel and other supplies to Nashville for the Gov- 
ernment, and such other purposes, and on such terms as may be approved by the Quar- 
termaster General. 

5. As soon as the line is connected through between Nashville and Reynoldsburg it 
shall be turned over to the general manager of Government railways as a military 
road, and be used for military purposes in the same manner as other railroads in the 
possession of the Government are, or may be, hereafter operated under orders of the 
Government as military lines. 

6. Major General Grant will furnish such military forces as may be necessary for the 
protection of the road and the working parties engaged thereon. 

EDWIN M. STANTON, 

Secretari/ of War. 

On the 17th day of February, 1864, the supervision of the work of 
construction wae placed in my charge by order of Major General Grant, 
(Special Order 43, headquarters military division of the Mississippi, 1864.) 



28 

The road was connected through between Nashville and Tennessee 
Eiver on the 10th day of May, 1865. On the 9th of August it was turned 
over to this department to be operated as a military line by an order of 
Major General Sherman, issued by the authority of the President of the 
United States. At the terminus on Tennessee River, named Johnsonville, 
extensive arrangements were made to receive and ti-ansfer freight from 
steamboats to cars. Ample buildings and platforms were erected, and 
powerful hoisting machinery introduced. During the months of August, 
September, and October, the season of low water in the Cumberland 
River, large quantities of supplies for the army were received and shipped 
over this road. It was very much exposed to attacks from guerillas, 
who at times inflicted considerable damage and interfered with its opera- 
tion. On the 4th of November General Forrest planted batteries on the 
west bank of Tennessee River, and succeeded in destroying all the val- 
uable buildings at Johnsonville, with their contents. On the 30th of 
November the road was entirely abandoned and the movable property on 
it taken to Nashville. During General Hood s occupation of the country, 
from December 1 to 16th, all the bridges were destroyed. Repairs were 
commenced January 2, and the road was completed through February 13. 
Two thousand two hundred lineal feet of bridges were rebuilt. In Feb- 
ruary, March, and April most of these bridges were swept away by 
floods, and rebuilt — some of them three times. In May and June, 1865, 
all were replaced by permanent truss bridges. 

On the first of September, 1865, the road was turned over to the rail- 
road company. 

Nashville and Clarlsville, 62 miles. — This line was formed of the Edge- 
field and Kentuck}^ Railroad, 47 miles from Nashville, and 15 miles of 
the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad. It was repaired and 
opened in August, 1864, by order of Major General Sherman, in order to 
have another railroad communication with water navigable in summer 
to aid in supplying the Nashville depot. 

Important bridges were destroyed by floods at various times and re- 
built, until in April, 1865, when its use as a military road was abandoned, 
except on the 28 miles nearest Nashville. It was turned over to the com- 
pany September 23, 1865. 

After the war was closed, the railroads leading south from Nashville 
were kept in active operation for some months transporting paroled pris- 
oners to their homes and returning th< se who had been confined in camps 
north of the Ohio River, together with the movement of the Union troops 
to be mustered out or take up new positions in Tennessee and Georgia. 



29 

RAILROADS IN WESTERN TENNESSEE AND KENTUCKY. 

In 1862 several lines and many miles of railroad were operated for 
military purposes from Memphis, Tennessee, and Columbus, Kentucky, 
but no reports or statements of their business have been in my hands. 

No part of the road was in operation from Memphis when I took charge, 
but during the years 1864 and 1865 the western portion of the Memphis 
and Charleston Railroad and a part of the Mississippi Central were 
operated as follows : 

18«*- Miles. 

February 20. Opened to Germantovvn 15 

March 26. Abandoned back to within 5 miles of Memphis. 

June 11. Opened to White's Station 10 

June 29. Opened to Grand Junction 52 

August 2. Opened to Holly Springs 75 

August 6. Opened to Tallahatchie River 100 

August 18. Abandoned to Grand Junction 52 

August 23. Reopened to Tallahatchie River lOO 

August 24. Abandoned to Grand Junction 52 

September 6. Abandoned to White's Station 10 

October 15. Abandoned entirely. 

December 20. Opened to CoUiersville 24 

1865. 
January 1. Abandoned entirely. 

February 28. Opened to Germantown 15 

March 4. Abandoned entirely. 

March 24. Opened to CoUiersville 24 

April 2. Opened to Lafayette 32 

May 13. Opened to Moscow 39 

May 14. Opened to La Grange 49 

May 20. Opened to Grand Junction 52 

June 30. Opened to Pocahontas 75 

September 12. Turned over to the company. 

Each time it was abandoned it was badly damaged by the enemy : 
bridges, trestles, and cattle-guards were burned and miles of track torn up. 

At Columbus, Kentucky, I found the Mobile and Ohio Railroad open 
to Union City, 26 miles. It was abandoned about the first of May, 1864, 
at the time of Forrest's raid upon Union City, and not afterwards used, 
except in the immediate vicinity of Columbus, until May, 1865. It was 
reopened to Union City May 15, and to Crockett, 35 miles, May 31, and 
restored to the company August 25, 1865. 

ARKANSAS. 

The Memphis and Little Rock Railroad, between DuvalFs Bluff and 
Little Rock, 49 miles, was the only line operated in this State. It did 



30 

not come under my control until May 1, 1864. It was then in very bad 
condition, in consequence of the nature of the soil and neglect or want of 
skill in keeping up the necessary repairs. 

It was operated as a military line until November 1, 1865, when it was 
restored to the company. 

Statement of railroads operated in Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Ken- 
tucky, and Arkansas. 



Name of line. 



Nashville and Chatta- 
nooga. 

Nashville, Decatur and 
Stevenson. 

Nashville and North- 
western. 

Nashville and Clarks- 
ville. 

Shelbyville Branch 



McMinnville and Man- 
chester. 
Mount Pleasant Branch. 

Chattanooga and Knox- 

ville. 
Cleveland and Dalton— . 



Knoxville and Bristol.- 
Eogersville and Jefifer- 

SO!l 

Chattanooga and At- 
lanta. 
Rome Branch 



Atlanta and Macon. 



Memphis and Charles- 
ton 
Mississippi Central 



Mobile and Ohio. 



Memi)hi8 and Little 

Rock 
Louisville City 



Number of miles operated with- 
in the following periods. 



Total. 



151 
99 



1864. 



151 

200 



35 

12 

112 

27 
56 



107 
17 



26 26 



329 806 



151 151 

200 200 

78 j 78 

62 i 62 



151 

200 

78 



112 
27 
17 



136 
17 
11 
52 



112 
27 

110 
12 

136 
17 



112 
27 

110 
12 

136 
17 






151 

200 
78 
62 
9 
35 
12 

112 
27 

110 
12 

136 
17 
11 
75 
68 
35 
49 
2 



1,201 



Turned over to the 
owners. 



September 15, 1865. 
September 15, 1865. 
September 1, 1865. 
September 23, 1865. 
September 15, 1865. 

September 15, 1865. 
August 28, 1865. 
August 28, 1865. 
August 28, 1865. 

September 25, 1865 



September 12, 1865. 
September 12, 1865. 
August 25, 1865. 
November 1, 1865. 



31 

Umitkd States Military Raii roads 

Division of the Mississippi, emhraring the roads in Tenmssee, iteonjia, Ken- 
tacky, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas. 

In the followinc tabular statements are given — 

1. The greatest number of per.sons eniph)yed in any montli of the year, 
average monthly number, and amount paid for services. 

2 The number of locomotive engines, how procured, number added 
each year, and final disposition made of them. 

3. The number of cars, &c. 

4. The length of track and bridges built or rebuilt. 

1. Xumber of persons employed, and amount paid for service. 



Persons employed monthly. 





Year. 


Greatest number in 
one month. 


Average number 
per month. 


A 


mount paid for 
seivices. 


1864 _ 
1865- 


Total 


1 1(),364 

17,035 


11,580 
10,061 




5^6,316,861 45 
6,513,384 15 




17,035 


10, 787 




12,830,245 60 



2. Locomotive engines provided, and final disposition made if them. 





Locomotives pro- 
cured. 


LoconKJtives disposed of. 


■ 
Year. 


3 


1 

a 


"3 


t 

1? 

It 

-c o 


1 


Sold. I 

Wi 1 


3 

o 
H 


1862 


18 35 
20 14 
164 17 

2 -__. 


53 










1863 


34 
171 

2 










1864- _ _ 


' 




'""l6i~ 63" 

2 


2 


1865 ._ 


224 


1866 




32 


34 










Total 


194 1 66 


26(1 2 


3:; 


161 65 260 

















32 



3. Cars provided, and final disposition made of them. 





Cars procured. 


Cars disposed of. 










.1 

> 


Sold. 














S 




00 <« 












fl-M 




-n o^ 






Year. 












11= 


03 






1 


, 


-i 






southern 
nder Ex. 
LUg. 8 and 


2 

S 
5 


3 






















t^ 


pq 


H 


K) 


N 


H 


« 


H 


On hand February 1. 




i 












1864_ . _ 




755 
1.081 












1864 -_ _- ___ _ 


1,081 ' ___ 


160 








160 


1865 _ _ 


1,522 25 1,547 


243 








243 


1866 __- ______ 




32 


536 


2,311 


101 


2,980 










Total 


2,603 


25 i 3.383 


435 


536 


2,311 


101 


3,383 






' 





4. The length of bridges and trades built and rebuilt. 

The length of bridges built and rebuilt was 97,544 lineal feet, or ISf 
miles. 

The length of main track laid was SQI-j^q-o miles. 

The length of sidings laid was A2-^^ miles, making a total of 433-i^o'V 
miles. 

The follo%ving list embraces the names of the general officers. 
1864. 

A. Anderson, general superintendent, to November 1. 

E. L. Wentz, general superintendent, after November 1. 

W. J. Stevens, superintendent railroads running from Nashville. 

Colonel L. P. Wright, superintendent railroads from Chattanooga, to 
July 1. 

W. C. Taylor, superintendent railroads from Chattanooga, after July 1. 

A. F. Goodhue, engineer and superintendent railroads at Memphis^ 
Tennessee, and Columbus, Kentucky. 

W. W. Wright, chief engineer. 

John Trenbath, auditor. 

Colonel John C. Crane, assistant quartermaster, disbursing officer. 



33 

1865. 

W. J. Stevens, general superintendent. 

R. B. McPherson, assistant superintendent. 

J. B. Van Dyne, chief master of transportation. 

A. W. Dickinson, superintendent Nashville railroads, to July 25. 

George H. Hudson, superintendent Nashville railroads, after July 25. 

W. R. Griffin, superintendent Nashville, Decatur and Stevenson Rail- 
road. 

A. A. Talmadge, superintendent Chattanooga railroads. 

A. J. Cheney, superintendent Knoxville and Bristol Railroad, to Sep- 
tember 1. 

A. J. Cheney, superintendent Chattanooga and Atlanta Railroad, after 
September 1. 

A. Hebard, chief engineer repairs, Nashville railroads. 

A. F. Goodhue, engineer and supferintendeut of railroads West Tennes- 
see, Kentucky, and Arkansas. 

Colonel L. P. Wright, superintendent Memphis railroads. 

W. W. Wright, chief engineer. 

L. H. Eicholtz, acting chief engineer, January 1 to July I. 

John Trenbath, auditor. 

Captain F. J. Crilly, chief quartermaster and disbui'sing officer, 

MISSOURI. 
In October. 1864, orders were received to have the bridges rebuilt on 
the Pacific Railroad of Missouri and its southwestern branch, which had 
lately been destroyed by the rebels. This work required the construction 
of 1,680 lineal feet of truss bridges, and was completed early in April, 
1865, at an expense of $170,564 65, including the cost of replacing trestles 
carried away by floods, and other incidental expenses. 

NORTH CAROLINA AND ATLANTIC COAST. 

Under orders received from Major General McClellan four locomotives 
and one hundred freight cars were sent to Major General Burnside, at 
Newbern, North Carolina, in the months of June and July, 1862. On 
the passage two locomotives were lost with the vessel oft" Cape Hatteras, 
and two others were afterward sent to replace them. One engine proving 
unserviceable was subsequently returned' to Alexandria, Virginia, leaving 
three locomotives and one hundred cars for service. The road was worked 
under orders and by officers appointed by the General commanding the 
Department, and did not come under my jurisdiction. I am therefore 
unable to give any account of its operation. 
U. S. M. R.-3 



34 • 

When it was ascertained to what point of the coast General Sherman 
was directing his march fi'om Atlanta, preparation was at once made to 
furnish him with railroad facilities. A portion of the construction corps 
from the division of the Mississippi that had rebuilt the railroads during 
the Atlanta campaign were ordered in December, 'li^64, to proceed to 
Baltimore by railroad from Nashville and embark for Savannah. Upon 
reaching Hilton Head, information was received that General Sherman 
would not use the railroads near Savannah, and orders were given to 
proceed to Newbern, Nortli Carolina, and open the railroad to Goldsboro'. 

Elev^en miles of the Savannah and Gulf Railroad wei^e opened and 
operated with rolling-stock captured at Savannah for local military pur- 
poses and to supply the citizens of the town with fuel. The tracks and 
buildings of the Georgia Central Railroad within the city limits also were 
used. Five serviceable and nine unserviceable locomotives and 213 cars, 
about one-half of them damaged and unlit for service, were captured at 
Savannah. On the 20th day of June, 1865, all the railroad property was 
restored to the original owners by order of the department commander. 

A detatchment of the Virginia construction corps was sent to North 
Carolina by order of General Grant and landed at Newbern January 30, 
1865. The railroad at that time was in charge of the depot quartermaster 
at Newbern, and was in operation between Morehead City and Batche- 
lor's Creek, 44 miles. This construction force at once commenced rebuild- 
ing the bridge over that stream. On the 6th day of February the detach- 
ment sent from the military division of the ISIississippi landed at More- 
head City and relieved the force from Virginia, which returned to City 
Point. 

The railroad was repaired as fast as the army advanced, and was opened 
to Goldsboro', 95 miles, March 25, the day following the arrival of General 
Sherman and his army from Savannah. 

To provide another line of supplier, the railroad from Wilmington to 
Goldsboro', 85 miles, was repaired and opened through April 4. 

On the 10th of April movements were resumed toward the interior, and 
the railroad was opened April 19, to Raleigh, 48 miles from Goldsboro'. 
It was opened soon after to Hillsboi'o', and used until the parole of General 
Johnston's army was completed, when it was given up west of Raleigh. 

The total length of railroads opened and used in this department was 
as follows : 



35 





Terminal stations. 


a 

s 


Transferred to 




From— 


To- 


(•()nij)any. 


Atlantic and North Carolina 
Wilmington and Weldou___ 

North Carolina 

Raleigh and Gaston 

Total miles 


MoreheadCity. 
Wilmington ___ 

Goldsboro' 

Kaleigh 


Goldsboro' 

do 

Hillsboro' 

Cedar Creek_._ 


95 

85 
88 
25 



293 


October '25, 1865. 
August 27, 1865. 
October 22, 1865. 
May 3, 1865. 




, 





On these roads 25 miles 2,172 feet of main track were rebuilt, and 5 
miles 1,460 feet side track were laid, or 30 miles 4,632 feet of track in all. 
On the same roads 3,263 lineal feet of bridges were built, consuming 
825,750 feet timber, board measure. At Morehead City a wharf was built 
by the construction corps, covering an area of 53,682 square feet and con- 
suming 700,000 feet timber, board measure. 

In the following tabular statements are embraced the principal items of 
information in regard to these lines : 



1. Number of persons employed. 

The greatest number of persons employed monthly in the year 1865 
was 3,387. 

2. Locomotive engines provided, and final disposition made of them. 





Locomotives 
cured. 


pro- 




Locomotives disposed of 






Year. 


1 


1 

6 


H 


Lost or de- 
stroyed in 
service or 
in transit. 


1 


Sold. 

To Southern rail- 
roads under Ex. 
orders of August 
8 and October 14, 
1865. 


Returned 
to former 
owners. 


Total. 


ise'' 


5 
2 





5 
2 


2 








2 


1863 






__ _ 






1864 


1 








1865 


10 


21 


31 




9 
3 


3 


21 


33 


1866 




3 




j 












Total- 


17 


21 


38 


2 


12 


3 


21 


38 



36 



3. Cars provided, and final disposition made of them. 





Cars procu 


red. 






Cars disposed of. 






Year. 

1 
1 


■a 
1 
t 


3 

1 


3 


T.oRt or de- 
stroyed in 
service or 
in transit. 




Sold. 


Returned 
to former 
owners. 




1 

1 


To Southern rail- 
roads under Ex. 
orders of August 
8 and October 14, 
1865. 


Total. 


i 
1862 


100 


3 


103 


20 
38 








20 


1863 






38 


1864 












1865. ' 

1866 i 


139 


180 


319 


1 


--7T- 


101 


183 


285 
79 


- 1 - - 










1 
TotaL 


239 


183 


422 


59 


79 


101 


183 


422 



The following officers were directly in charge of operating the military 
raih'oads in North Carolina: 

W. W. Wright, chief engineer and general superintendent; to July 1. 
Colonel J. F. Boyd, general supeinntendent, after July 1. 
J. B. Van Dyne^ superintendent. 
E. C. Smeed, engineer of repairs. 

RAILS AND ROLLING-MILL. 

The greatest necessity next to that of rolling stock was a supply of 
rails. These were obtained hj purchase, manufacture, and by taking up 
lines unnecessary for military purposes. 

The following roads were thus taken up entire for the distances speci- 
fied: 



Railroad. 


From-- To — 

1 


Length. 


Mileg. 


Feet. 


In Virginia. 

Seaboard and Roanoke 

Norfolk and Petersburg 


1 

Suffolk Blackwater 

Suffolk Blackwater 

Manassas Piedmont 

White House Chickahomiuy River 

Decherd 'Fayetteville 

Near Manchester. McMinnville 

Columbia Mount Pleasant 


14 
14 
35 
13 

41 
26 
12 




Richmond and York River 

In military division of ^lif^sisnippi. 

Winchester and Fayetteville 

McMinnville and Manchester 

Mount Pleasant Branch 


2,640 
2,760 
2,165 


Total -I — — 


156 


2,285 







37 

During the war the quantity of rails purchased and manufactured was 
as follows : 





Quantity of rails. 


Year. 


Number of tons purchased. 


Manufactured at the 
Cliattanooga rolling-mill. 


1862 _ _ - 


Toms. 
6,086 
6,030 
8,165 
1,500 


Poimds. 
1, 723 
1,790 
1,446 
1,352 


Tom. 


Pounds. 


1863 






1864 






1865 


3,818 


1,184 






Total 21, 783 


831 


3,818 


1,184 



The price paid for purchased rails varied from $40 per ton, the lowest 
price paid in July, 1862, to $130 per ton, the highest price paid in June. 
1864. 

Soon after taking charge of the railroads in the Military Division of the 
Mississippi, the following communication was addressed to the Command- 
ing General : 

Office of General Manager Military Railroads United States, 

Nashville, Temi., Februanj 17, 1864. 

General : When the track of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad is relaid, we 
will have on hand three hundred and two miles of old rails, weighing eleven thousand 
eight hundred and sixty-four (11,864) gross tons. At present rates new railsi delivered 
at Chattanooga will cost one hundred and forty-five (:fi!145) dollars per ton. 

There is at Chattanooga a rolling-mill partially built by the rebels, which if completed 
—say at a cost of thirty thousand (30,000) dollars— these old rails can be re-rolled at a cost 
of about tifty (50) dollars per ton, coal being contiguous and abundant. This would 
not only be a large saving to the Government, but what, in my opinion, is of greater 
importance, the rails would be on hand ready for use when and where required. The 
following represents the case: 

11,864 tons of new rails delivered at Chattanooga, at $145 per ton $1, 719, 250 

11,864 tons of old rails re-rolled at a cost of $50 per ton $593, 200 

Cost of mill estimated at 30,000 ^o o a 

In favor of rolling-mill 1. '^^6, 050 

By advices recently received the stock of railroad iron in the market is small and the 
demand large. In fact, should an emergency arise requiring a large amount of iron, it 
is doubtful whether it could be had at any price. I therefore respectfully ask, unless 
jnilitary reasons forbid, your permission to complete the rolling-mill at Chattanooga. 
I have the honor to be, very resi)ectfully, your obedient servant, 

D. C. McCALLUM, 
Col. U. S. A., General Manager Military Kailroads U. S. 
Major General TJ. S. Grant, 

Commanding Military Division of the Mississippi, Nashville, Tenn, 



38 

The following order was the response to this letter: 

[Special Order No. 43.] 

Headquaetehs Military Division of the Mississippi^ 

Nashville, Touu, February 17, 1S6U. 
Colonel D. C. McCallum, general manager of military railroads within this military- 
division, is hereby directed to proceed at once to complete and set at work the rolling- 
mill at Chattanooga, Tennessee. 
By order of Blajor General Grant: 

T. S. BOWERS, Amslant Adjutant General. 

Upon a more extended and thorough examination it was found that 
many important parts of the machinery provided by the rebels for the 
rolling-mill were not at hand. They were, in fact, still wnthin their lines, 
and no probability existed of obtaining them uninjured within any rea- 
sonable time, if at all ; therefore it was decided to build entirely new ma- 
chinery throughout, and of the most improved pattern used in rolling- 
mills of the North. 

The mill building, partially completed by the rebels, was declared by 
the military authorities too far from the fortifications at Chattanooga to 
be safe, and after cai'eful investigation of the question the building was 
abandoned and a new one erected in a secure location. To reach the site 
selected and properly accommodate the mill required building one and 
tw^o-thirds miles of railroad. Thus, instead of completing a partially- 
built work, an entirely new and very superior rolling-mill, in point of 
machinery, was the result: 

The total cost of the mill complete and ready for work was as follows: 

Rolling-mill building §125,857 81 

Machinery, inchuling transportation 120,000 00 

Quarters for workmen, officers, and other buildings 21, 212 00 

Railroad to mill, materials, and labor 23,259 70 

Total cost 290,329 51 

The mill, with its out-buildings and railroads, were built by the con- 
struction corps; all of the timber used was got out by them, and nearly 
all the work was done at times when there was a lull in active operations 
in the field. As this force was necessarily kept on hand for emergencies, 
and their legitimate place was at the front, the work done by them in 
building the mill may be regarded as almost clear gain to the Government. 
More than $100,000 of the above sum wvas paid for labor thus expended. 

OAving to the great pressure upon the manufacturers of machinery, the 
scarcity of labor, difficulty of obtaining proper materials and of procur- 
ing transportation to Nashville on the over- crowded railroad lines of the 
North, the mill did not go into operation until April 1, 1865. 



39 

It was employed in mauufacturiug- rails for the United States until Oc- 
tober 5, 1865, when it was sold to the higliest bidder, after two months' 
advertisement, for $175,000. It was in operation six months and five 
days, and in that time manufactured 3,818 tons and 1,184 pounds of new 
rails at a cost of : 

For coal, 145,897 bushels $36,474 25 

For labor 98,776 39 

Total 135,250 64 

Average cost per ton, $35.42. 

These w^ere disposed of as follows : 

Tons. Pounds, 

To repair tracks 466 2,066 

Sold to southern railroads 3,351 1,358 

Total 3, 818 1, 184 

The quantity sold realized in cash the sum of $269,128.58. 

ROLLING STOCK. 

In the preceding statements an account is given of the quantity of roll- 
ing stock provided for each department and the final disposition made of 
it. Those statements embrace only the number in active service in each 
case. In the fall and w^inter of 1864 an additional supply was provided 
in view of pro])able wants for the spring campaign of 1865, but the close 
of the war rendered it unnecessary, and it w^as subsequently sold at the 
points where manufactured, or where it had been stored to await events. 
Thirty-five (35) locomotives, and four hundred and ninety-two (492) cars, 
of five-feet gauge, were built for the military division of the Mississippi 
and North Carolina. Fifty (50) cars, of four feet eight and one-half inch 
gauge, also, w^ere provided for Virginia and North Carolina. 

Ten (10) platform cars of four feet eight and one-half inch gauge had 
been purchased at an early day and used on the railroads of the western 
States, to transport cars of the five-feet gauge from the manufacturer's 
works to Jeftersonville, opposite Louisville. 

Locomotives five-feet gauge, provided and not used, 35. 

Cars, five-feet gauge, for military division Mississippi and North Carolina 519 

Cars, four feet eight and a half inch gauge, for Virginia and North Carolina 50 

Cars, four feet eight and a half inch gauge, for car transportation 10 

Total 579 

Of these engines and cars, one of the ten cars was destroyed in service 
and all the rest sold for cash. 



40 



The following tabular statements exhibit the entire rolling stock of the 
military railroads during the war: 





Locomotives. 




How obtained. How disposed of. 


Year delivered. 


"3 

.a 

t 
a 

i 


1 

1 


Total. 

Lost or destroyed. 


Sold. 1 1 






J 


Under Ex. or- 
ders of Aug. 
8 and Oct. 14. 

Returned to f 
owners. 


s 
5 


1862 _ _ _ 


72 
40 
154 

47 


40 
14 
17 
35 


112 1 4 

54 i 

171 2 

82 ; 


1 


t 


1863 


3 

9 

95 




1864 _ __ 


- — 


11 


1865 


1 (U 1 m 


360 


1866 - _ _ . _. 


39 1 2 

1 


41 












Total 


312 


lOf. 


1 
419 6 146 ' 164 103 


419 











Cars. 




How obtained. 


How disposed of. 


Fiscal year. 


1 


1 


•6 

t 


On hand in military 
division of Missis- 
sippi, Feb. 1, 1864. 


1 


1 

i 


Returned to former 
owners. 


Sold. 






lis 


1 


1 


1862-__ 


603 

704 

1,149 

2, 655 





16 




619 

704 

1,934 

3,073 


478 
53 
217 
265 
32 




i 


478 


1863 






10 
126 


63 


1864 

1865 


30 

25 


"I93" 


755 


"" 213 " 

297 




343 

478 


1866 


2,589 '2,050 


4,968 




5,111 


55 


40. 


755 


6,330 


Total 


1,045 


510 


2, 589 2, 186 


6,330 



Note. — The cars sold in the years 1863 and 1864 were damaged, disabled, and unfit for 
service. 

In the above tables the rolling stock borrowed and impressed into serv- 
ice from northern railroads is not included. 



41 

In the general office of military railroads in Washington have been the 
following officers: 

W. H. Whiton, in charge April 1, 1862, to July 1, 1865; H. K. Cooper, 
in charge after July 1, 1865; J. A. Lawrence, accountant to October 15, 
1863; E. J. Kellogg, after October 15, 1863; Captain (now lirevet Brig- 
adier General) H. L Eobinson, assistant quartei'inaster, has acted as dis- 
bursing and purchasing officer for the railroads in the east during the 
entire war. 

GENERAL REMARKS. 

With few exceptions, the operations of niilhary railroads have been 
conducted mider orders issued by the Secretary of War, or by army com- 
manders in or out of the field. 

It was made the duty of the director and general manager to arrange 
the military railroad organization upon a basis sufficiently comprehensive 
to permit the extension of the system indefinitely; to perfect the modus 
operandi for working the various lines; to determine as to the number of 
men to be employed in the several departments, and the compensation to 
be paid therefor; the amount and kind of machinery to be purchased, 
and the direction as to the distribution of the same. 

The following important order of the Secretary of War, the wisdom of 
which has been so abundantly vindicated by experience, is here inserted 
as defining, in part, the position of the military railroad organization, 
which seems not to have been clearly understood by many, in and out of 

the service: 

[Special Order No. 337— Extract.] 

War Department, Adjutant Generai's Office. 

Washington, November 10, 1862. 
******* 
Commanding oflBcers of troops along the United States military railroads will give all 
facilities to the officers of the roads, and the quartermasters, for unloading cars so as to 
prevent any delay. On arrival at depots, whether in the day or night, the cars will be 
instantly unloaded, and working parties will always be in readiness for tliat duty, and 
suffi'-ient to unload the whole train at once. 

Commanding officers will be charged witli guarding the track, sidings, wood, water- 
tanks, &c.. within their several commands, and will be held responsible for the result. 
Any military officer who shall neglect his duty in this respect will ])e reported by the 
quartermasters and officers of the railroad, and his name will be stricken from the rolls 
of the Army. 

Depots will be established at suitable points, under the direction of the commanding 
general, and properly guarded. 

No officer, whatever may be his rank, will interfere with the running of the cars as 
directed by the superintendent of the road. 

Any one who so interferes will be dismissed from the service for disobedience of orders. 
Bv order of the Secretary of War. 

E. D. TOWNSEXD, 
AmMant Adjutant General. 



42 • 

The above order was given in couseciuence of several attempts luiving 
been ma<le to operate railroads by army or department commanders, which 
had, without any exception, proved signal failures, disorganizing in ten- 
dency, and destructive of all discipline. The great benefit resulting from 
this order was more especially exhibited during General Sherman's cam- 
paign from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and in this, my final report, I desire 
to put on record, for the benefit of those who may be called upon to con- 
duct military railroad operations in the futuj'e, the following: 

Having had a somewhat extensive railroad experience, both before and 
since the rebellion, I consider this order of the Secretary of War to have 
been the very foundation of success; Nvithout it the whole raili-oad system, 
which has proved an important element in conducting military movements, 
would have been not only a costly but ludicrous failure. The fact should 
be understood that the management of railroads is just as much a distinct 
profession as is that of the art of war, and should be 90 regarded 

The difficulty of procuring a sufficient Ibrce of competent railroad men, 
both in the construction and transportation departments, was almost in- 
surmountable. Owhig to the peculiar nature of the service and the rapid 
expansion of the railroad system, the supply of railroad operatives in the 
country has always been limited; many had entered the army in various 
positions, thus diminishing the actual number in civil life, while the stim- 
ulus imparted by the war to the business of northern railroads had greatly 
enhanced the value of the services of those who remained at their posts, 
thus rendering the home demand for skillful labor far in advance of the 
supply. When the large number of men necessary to equip these mili- 
tary lines were sought for, it was extremely difficult to induce those who 
were really valuable to leave secure positions and enter upon a new and 
untried field of action. 

The difference between civil and militarj- railroad service is marked 
and decided. Not only were the men continually exposed to great danger 
from the regular forces of the enemy, guerillas, scouting pajties, &c.. but. 
owing to the circumstances under which military raihoads must be con- 
structed and operated, what are considered the ordinary risks upon civil 
railroads are vastly increased on military lines. 

The hardships, exposure, and perils to which train-men especially were 
subjected duinng the movements incident to an active campaign were 
much greater than that endured by any other class of civil employes of 
the Government — equalled only by that of the soldier while engaged in a 
raid into the enemy's country. It was by no means unusual for men to 
be out with their trains from five to ten days, without sleep, except what 
could be snatched upon their engines and cars while the same were stand- 



43 

iiig to be loaded or unloaded, with but scanty food, or perhaps no food at 
all, for days together, while continually occupied in a manner to keep 
every faculty strained to its utmost. Many incidents during the war, but 
more especially during the Atlanta campaign, exhibited a fortitude, endur- 
ance, and self-devotion on the part of these men not exceeded in any 
branch of the service. All wei'e ihoroughly imbued with the fact that 
upon the success of railroad operations, in forwarding supplies to the 
front, depended, in great part, the success of our armies; that although 
defeat might be the result, even if supplies were abundantly furnished, 
it was evident there could be no advance without; and I hazard nothing 
in saying, that should failure have taken place either in keeping the lines 
in repair or in operating them, General Sherman's campaign, instead of 
proving, as it did, a great success, would have resulted in disaster and 
defeat; and the greater the army to supply the more precarious its posi- 
tion. Since the end of the rebellion I have been informed by railroad 
oflBcers who were in the service of the enemy during the war, "that they 
were less sui'prised at the success of General Sherman, in a military point 
of view, than they were at the rapidity with which railroad breaks were 
repaired and the regularity with which trains were moved to the front;" 
and it was only when the method of operating was fully explained that 
it could be comprehended. 

In the beginning of the war military railroads were an experiment ; 
and although some light as to their management had been gleaned by the 
operations of 1862 and 1863, yet so little progress had been made that the 
attempt to supply the army of General Sherman in the field, construct 
and reconstruct the railroad in its rear, and keep pace with its march, 
was regarded by those who had the largest experience, and Avho had 
become most familiar with the subject, as the greatest experiment of all. 
The attempt to furnish an army of one hundred thousand (100,000) men 
and sixty thousand (60,000) animals with supplies from a base three 
hundr-d and sixty (360) miles distant, by one line of single-track rail- 
road, located almost the entire distance through the country of an active 
and most vindictive enemy, is without precedent in the history of warfare, 
and to make it successful required an enormous outlay for labor and a 
vast consumption of material, together with all the forethought, energy, 
patience, and watchfulness of which men are capable. 

This line, from the fact of its great length, Avas imperfectly guarded, as 
troops could not be spared from the front for that purpose. This rendered 
the railroad service one of great risk and hazard, and at times it was only 
by the force of military authority that men could be held to service. As. 
an item showing the real danger attending militaiy railroad oj'crations. 



44 

it may be stated that during the last six months of the fiscal year ending 
June 30, 1865, the wrecking train picked up and carried to Nashville 
sixteen (16) wrecked locomotives and two hundred and ninety-four (294) 
car-loads of car wheels, bridge iron, &c. These wrecks were caused bj 
guerillas and rebel raids. 

The Chattanooga and Atlanta, or Western and Atlantic Railroad ex- 
tends frojn (Jhattanooga to Atlanta, 136 miles, Avith a branch from Kings- 
ton to Eome 17 miles long. 

The reconstruction and maintenance of this line was, in many respects, 
the most diliicult of any military railroad operations during the war. By 
it the Confederate army under General Johnston made its retreat from 
Buzzard Roost to Atlanta; and in falling back from one strong position 
to another it did such damage to the road as was supposed would delay 
•or prevent Sherman's pursuit, but in this it was unsuccessful. However 
great the damage done, it was so speedily repaired that General Sherman 
soon ceased to fear any delay from this cause, and made his advance 
movements with perfect confidence that the railroad in his rear would be 
"all right." 

Being, from the nature of the case, entirely ignontnt of the obstacles to 
be encountered at each advance, the construction force was at all times 
prepared for any emergency — either to buil ' bridges of formidable di- 
mensions, or lay miles of track, or, perhaps, push back to some point on 
the line and repair damages done by guerillas or raiding parties. These 
attacks ou the line to the rear were of such frequent occurrence, and often 
of so serious a character, that to insure speedy repairs it became necessary 
to station detachments of the construction corps at various points along 
the road, and also to collect supplies of construction materials, such as 
iron, rails, chairs, spikes, cross-ties, and bridge timber, at points where 
they would be comparatively safe and easily obtained when required 
These precautionary measures proved to be of the utmost importance in 
keeping the road open. 

The detachments stationed ahmg the line Avere composed of bridge- 
builders and track-layers, with an ample supply of tools for all kinds of 
work. Each detachment was under the command of a competent en- 
gineer or supervisor, who had orders to move in either direction, within 
certain limits, as soon as a break occurred, and make the necessary re- 
pairs without delay, working day and night when necessary. Under 
this arrangement small breaks were repaired at once, at any point on the 
line, even when the telegraph wires were cut and special orders could 
not be communicated to the working parties. When "big breaks" oc- 
<-urred, one or more divisions of the construction corps were moved as 



45 

rapidly as possible thereto, either frou) Chattanooga or the front. Con- 
struction trains, loaded with the requisite tools and materials, were kept 
ready at each end of the road to move at a moment's notice. 

Guerillas and raiding parties were more or less successful in destroying 
portions of track during the whole time we held this line ; but the crown- 
ing effort was made by the enemy in October, 1864, when Hood, getting 
to Sherman's rear, threw his whole army on the road — first at Big Shanty, 
and afterward north of Resaca — and destroyed in the aggregate 3.')-^ miles 
of track and 455 lineal feet of bridges, killing and capturing a large num- 
ber of our men. Fortunately, however, the detachments of the instruc- 
tion corps Avhich escaped were so distributed that even before Hood had 
left the road two strong working parties were at -work, one on each end 
of the break at Big Shanty, and this gap of ten miles was closed and the 
force ready to move to the great break of twenty-five miles in length north 
of Resaca as soon as the enemy had left it. The destruction by Hood's 
army of our depots of supplies compelled us to cut nearly all the cross- 
ties required to relay this track, and to send a distance for rails. The 
cross-ties were cut near the line of the road, and many of them carried by 
hand to the track, as the teams to be furnished for hauling them did not 
get to the work until it was nearly completed. The rails used on the 
southern end of the break had to be taken up and brought from the rail- 
roads south of Atlanta, and those for the northern end were mostly brought 
from Nashville, nearly two hundred miles distant. 

Notwithstanding mU the disadvantages under which the labor was per- 
formed, this twenty-five miles of track was laid and tlie trains were run- 
ning over it in seven and a half days from the time the work was com- 
menced. 

The economy so commendable and essential upon civil railroads Avas 
compelled to give Avay to the lavish expenditure of war; and the ques- 
tion to be answered was not, ''How much will it cost?" but rather. 
"Can it be done at all at any costf " 

During February, 1862, 1 received the following important verbal order 
from the Secretary of War : " I shall expect you to have on hand at all 
times the necessary men and materials to enable you to comply promptly 
with any order given, nor must there be any failure." 

The greatest number of men employed at the same date during the war 
was: 

In Virginia 4, 542 

In North Carolina 3, 387 

In military division of the Mississippi 17,035 

Total number of men 24, 964 



46 

The total nionber njit^niles operated. 

In Virginia 611 

In North Carolina 293 

In military division of the Mississippi 1,201 

Total 2. 105 

The number of engines. 

In Virginia 72 

In North Carolina 38 

In military division of the Mississippi 260 

In Georgia 14 

Provided but not used 35 

Total 419 

The nnmher of cars. 

In Virginia 1, 733 

In North Carolina 422 

In militaiy division of the Mississippi 3,383 

In Georgia 213 

Provided but not used 579 

Total 6, 330 



Lineal feet of bridges built or rebuilt. 

In Virginia 34, 931 

In North Carolina 3, 263 

In Missouri 1, 680 

In military division of the Mississippi 97,544 

Total number of feet 137,418 

Or twenty-six miles and one hundred and thirty-eight feet. 

The length of track laid or relaid. 

Miles. Feet. 

In Virginia 177 2,961 

In North Carolina 30 4,632 

In military division of the Mississippi 433 2,323 



Total 641 4,636 



The following statement exhibits the amount expended during the war 
in constructing and operating the United States military railroads, said 
sum having been fui-nished from the appropriation made for the expen- 
ditures of the Quartermaster's Department : 



47 

VinfDiid. 

For labor ?fr>,2ii7,14o 24 

For materials 4,920,317 27 

m\ 147, 462 51 

North C<iruHn«. 

For labor 1,086,224 60 

For miiterials 1,510,4:35 45 

2, 596, 660 05 

MUiturii Dirisiiin of the Minsixsijipi. 

For labor 16,792,19:3 05 

For materials 12,870,588 06 

29,662,781 11 

Bepurtwfiit of the Gulf. 
For materials 55,238 88 

Total 42,462,142 55 

Property sold under Executive Order of August 8, 1865. 7, 428, 204 96 
Property sold for cash 3,466, 7:39 33 

Receipts from passengers and freight 1,525,493 04 

Receipts from hire of rolling stock 103,528 50 

Property on hand (estimated) 100,000 00 

12, 623, 965 83 

Net expenditures $29,838,176 72 

The United States military railroads were transferred, by Executive 
Order of August 8, 1865, to the original owners. 

The military railroad organization was designed to be a great construc- 
tion and transportation machine, for carrying out the objects of the com- 
manding generals, so far as it was adapted to the purpose, and it was 
managed solely with a view to efficacy in that direction. It was the duty 
of the quartermaster's department to load all material upon the cars, to 
direct where such material should be taken and to whom delivered. It 
then became the province of the railroad department to comply with said 
order in the shortest practicable time, and to pei'fect such arrangements 
as would enable it to keep the lines in repair under any and all circum- 
stances. It was impossible for this Department to keep an accurate ac- 
count of the persons and material transported, as whole corps and even 
armies, with all their artillery and equipments, were moved upon verbal 
orders from commanders sometimes hundred* of miles, and frequently in 
face of the enemy. As an illustration, one of the largest movements of 
this character was that of the 4th army corps in 1865, from Carter's Sta- 
tion, in East Tennessee, to Nashville, three hundred and seventy-three 
(373) miles, and which employed one thousand four hundred and ninety- 
eight (1;498) cars. 



^n 



/^ 



48 



Accompanying this report is a map showing the different lines oper- 
ated in the United States by the military railroad department during the 
war. 

In conclusion permit me to say that the Government was peculiai'ly 
fortunate in securing the services of civilian officers of great nerve, hon- 
esty, and capability, to whom the Avhole country OAves a debt of gratitude. 
Among them I take the liberty of naming, as pi-incipal assistants, A. 
Anderson, chief superintendent and engineer ; Colonel W. W. Wright, chief 
engineer in the Military Division of the Mississippi, and chief engineer and 
general superintendent in the department of North Carolina ; J. J. Moore, 
genei'al superintendent and chief engineer of railroads in Virginia; E. L. 
Wentz, general superintendent and chief engineer of railroads in Vir-_ 
ginia, and afterward for a time general superintendent of railroads in the 
division of the Mississippi; W. J. Stevens, general superintendent of 
United States military railroads, division of the Mississippi; L. H. Eic- 
holtz, acting chief engineer, Military Division of the Mississippi, during 
the absence of Colonel W. W. Wright in North Carolina ; A. F. Good- 
hue, engineer and superintendent military railroads. West Tennessee and 
Arkansas. Also the following commissioned officers : Brevet Brigadier 
General H. L. Robinson, acting qnartei-niaster, Washington, D C. ; 
Brevet Major F. J. Crilly, acting quartermaster, Nashville, Tennessee; 
and Captain G. S. Roper, commissary of subsistence, Nashville, Ten- 
nessee. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 

D. C. McCALLUM, 
Brevet Bngadier General, Director and (general Manager 

Military Railroads United States. 
Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, 

Secretary of War. 
O 



""^ 




